Four weddings and a comunion....

Creative writing - Prompt - Nature writing

In recent years, I have often seen mentioned that the constant need to photograph everything with a view of either keeping every single memory or sharing it with our closer or broader circles through social media, is reducing our ability to be in the moment. As a photographer, I always feel a bit divided by this statement. I mean.....it's true. We see it every day, don't we? People detached from their own lives, living them through mobile phones or tablets. And yet, it feels different when I use my camera. I feel like my camera connects me to the moments and places I'm experiencing. My camera is the vehicle of my art, so for me, seeing the world through my viewfinder feels like a way of processing my reality rather than avoiding it. I never gave the subject a second thought until recently I was introduced to the concept of Mindful Photography. 

Mindfulness is a word we see everywhere these days. From retreats to meditation classes to phone apps, we are offered a multitude of ways to reconnect to a part of us we seem to have lost over the last decades. We have become so fixated on doing things and being productive and making our time count, that we seem to be losing the ability to just be. I remember how over lockdown so many people felt lost when faced with the empty hours ahead of them, days and days of unstructured time that they were struggling to know how to fill. And it was also probably during that time that between banana bread recipes and early morning workouts, a few more people started having a go at mindful photography. 

Mindful photography is the act of using photography as a way of connecting to the present moment. The principle is very simple. All you have to do is to go for a walk taking any sort of camera you feel comfortable using. Any device will do as long as you are able to take photos on it without being worried about the technicalities of it. In that walk, the aim is to notice and take photos of the things we are drawn to, without any judgment. These photos have no other purpose than to bring us to the moment and help us notice things we might not notice otherwise. And then, we can look back on those photos and reflect on how those things we noticed make us feel. Why were our eyes drawn to these particular things? What sort of things are we drawn to?

It sounds simple in theory but the truth is many of us will find obstacles to fully achieving this because we are so used to adding layers of purpose to our actions. Personally, I find it really hard to just snap at things that call for my attention. A part of me is always thinking about how I can improve composition and constantly wondering if each photo I take is interesting enough and has value in itself. In summary, I find it hard not to work towards a final product I am happy with, which, in essence, goes against the basic principles of mindfulness. The closest I got to being able to do this, was to do my walks in nature. For this, I avoid spectacular landscapes which inevitably will call for big landscape shots worthy of social media glory. I prefer the small meandering paths. The ones that don't look like anything too special until we start noticing the small details. New leaves coming out here, a little shy flower there. The different colours on a tree bark. The number of different tones of green in the same woods. The different patterns on each leaf. The reflections on water surfaces like lakes or puddles. Raindrops on flowers. I sound a bit like a Julie Andrews song, but the truth is, when I see the details of nature through my lens, it's like being pulled into a Lilliputian world of wonder. I'm a child again and my senses are in a state of bliss. Eventually, I am led by the beauty of it all, and I stop consciously composing photos, I just let my eyes wander and press the shutter whenever I find an image that particularly resonates with me. 

I have often asked myself why is it that nature alters my experience of being in the moment so much. Even though when I photograph my main focus is on the sense of vision, I think being in nature brings all my senses to a place of balance and peace. Nothing is asked of me and paradoxically sometimes being in nature feels like stepping into a place of my own imagination, where being marvelled is always possible. I think something essential and sometimes half-forgotten is triggered in us when we connect with nature. Something that reminds us of the value of just existing and being part of a whole. Mindful photography might be a way of rediscovering that connection.